New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) passes the ball against the New Orleans Saints during the second half at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. on Oct. 13, 2013. / Mark L. Baer, USA TODAY Sports

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

With just under three minutes on the clock at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, the New England Patriots coach dismissed the odds, cursed the football gods and pretty much took a torch to the conventional coaching manual.

He went for it on fourth-and-6 from his own 24.

Incomplete.

That could have finished the Patriots for the day, and left the three-time Super Bowl-winning coach open for some serious second-guessing about his gambling ways.

Yet after an improbable, last-gasp 30-27 win vs. the previously unbeaten New Orleans Saints, it is apparent that in a time of need, Belichick can still place a bet on Tom Brady - and more often than not reap a winning hand.

"Guys made big-time catches," Brady said. "It was just a great game."

Brady made Belichick look like a genius again with his last-minute magic on the game-winning drive at the finish, won with a 17-yard touchdown strike to rookie Kenbrell Thompkins with five seconds on the clock -- and the stands half-empty.

"That's what he does, that's what he's paid to do," Belichick said afterward.

He could have also added that Brady bailed out his coach, big-time.

That's not to diminish Belichick's sterling plan and adroit adjustments. The Patriots came out of the gate and built a 10-point halftime lead with a no-huddle offense. The defensive scheme took away the biggest weapon, Jimmy Graham, who came into the game as the NFL leader for receiving yards.

It seemed simple enough with cornerback Aqib Talib blanketing Graham. Then Talib left in the third quarter with a hip injury. Plan B: Devin McCourty, next man (-to-man) up.

Graham's final stat line: Zero catches, zero yards.

No, Rob Gronkowski -- yet to return from his offseason back and forearm surgeries -- wasn't the only high-profile tight end missing in action.

It still came down to Brady, a week after the once-vaunted offense produced all of six points at Cincinnati in Brady's worst game in seven years.

This, after Brady's pick on underthrown pass to Julian Edelman -- "Bad read, not a good throw," he said -- seemed to doom the Patriots as the previous fourth-down decision might have,

But he hung tough. He's Brady. He's been there, done that.

He's the glue to the 5-1 record, achieved without Gronkowski or any of the other targets that were there last season, the reason they will still likely have a chance to still be in the hunt in January.

"No matter how you've played to that point, you have a situation," he said. "You're backed up. Regardless of what happens over the course of the game, you have a chance. That's what football is all about. When the game's on the line, you see what games are made of."

The final drive began with no timeouts and 73 seconds. Then suddenly it was fourth down again. This time, there was no decision. Just a play to be made on fourth-and-four. Brady hit recently-signed Austin Collie on a quick out to keep the game alive.

"We all looked at Tom, and he's not shaking," Collie said. "That kind of rolls down to all of us."

Brady was left with 10 seconds left -- time for two throws to the end zone.

It took just one. He threw a laser pass to Thompkins, streaking to the back left corner of the end zone, a hair past Jabari Greer.

Brady said that in that situation, all of his targets basically bolted to the end zone, leaving him to survey the scene and make a quick decision.

"I'm trying to pick a side," he explained.

The throw sizzled through what they call a tight window. One inch to the left, or an an incher, and it's incomplete.

But unlike last week, this one hit the target.

"That was sweet," Brady said.

It was also a reminder that for all of the good coaching, the schemes and the plan, it still takes the clutch players to make it work.